Continuing his campaign with primary elections set to begin next week, Ken Ulman toured Salisbury’s business district to talk to residents and make his case as to why he should be the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor come November.

Ulman, currently the County Executive for Howard County, is running alongside current Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown during this year’s gubernatorial primary election.

Walking along East Main Street and North Division Street in town with Mayor Jim Ireton, the two visited many of the city’s small businesses.

Ireton spoke of the investment the town’s government has made to reinvigorate growth in the city’s downtown section. Specifically, Ireton spoke of the initiatives the town began last year in cooperation with state agencies to better allocate state resources toward the city’s downtown development.

“It’s important to have the downtown with this vibrancy,” said Ulman.

In speaking with local residents, Ulman said if he and Brown were ultimately elected in the primary and again in November, their highest priority is to “focus on competitive business climate efforts.”

“We’re going to have a new focus and focus on working on working with our local partners,” said Ulman.

Speaking with a resident at the Main Roots Coffee Shop, Ulman reiterated his campaign’s stance to invest in mental health as well, pointing to 1,300 petitions for emergency evaluation that were filed in Howard County last year.

Saying he and Brown will “continue to invest in mental health,” Ulman added that he wants the mental health care system to see more substantial progression. He said that he would look at using public funds to educate more public employees about how to identify and handle mental health cases as well as invest more money into mental health care facilities to reinforce their ability to properly care for those already being treated.

“We’re just trying to do better to connect the dots,” said Ulman.

The Howard County executive said he realizes the area is still recovering from the 2008 recession and said his campaign hasn’t seen “a real reason to raise taxes.”

However, he distanced himself from potential Republican challengers in November, saying that the state still needs “a combination” of publicly funded initiatives to support the infrastructure meant to facilitate small businesses.